Reverend Kenneth John Walker (1938-2015)
Last December [2015] I found a telephone number for Ken Walker at Tocumwal, a small town in the Riverina. I rang and left a message on Ken's answering machine. Subsequently I rang a number of times and each time spoke to his answering machine. Finally on 19 January I was pleased when the phone was answered. It was not Ken who answered but his son-in-law, who told me that Ken had died the day before, of a heart attack. The son-in-law and other family members were at Ken's house making arrangements for the funeral. What follows is part biography, autobiography and obituary.
– Jim Fletcher |
Ken Walker was born in June 1938 at Westmead and went to Westmead Public School, prior to Parramatta High. For a couple of months after high school he worked as a clerk in the Mercantile Mutual Insurance Company in Sydney before accepting a teachers college scholarship. He attended Balmain Teachers College in 1956-57, after which the Department of Education considerately appointed him close to home at Westmead Public School where he stayed for the next 6 years.
It was one of life's bureaucratic mysteries that Ken in his early years of teaching was never appointed to a country school or a one-teacher-school which had been the fate of many of his male colleagues from college. In 1964 he spent 9 months of arduous teaching at Arthur Phillip High School before he took three important steps. The first step was his resignation from the Department of Education which was easily done by letter. The second step, that of marrying, was more complicated as this passage shows from Ken's memoirs: 'I first met Rosie at the Ryde P&C Ball about 1959. … My partner and I were on the same table as Rosie and her partner, … . Fortunately for me, Rosie didn't like her partner and didn't go out with him again. Colin [my cousin's] wife, was a very good matchmaker and invited Rosie, when she was next back in Sydney in 1964, to the monthly Scottish country dance of the Orkney and Shetland Association of which I was a member and regular dancer. After at least one dance with Rosie as my partner we got talking and she told me that she was going to the the University of Sydney to finish her degree as an evening student. … 'Do you play tennis?' she asked. 'Yes,' I replied. 'My aunt, Micky Carmen, is having a tennis party where I live in Ryde, tomorrow; would you like to come?' 'Yes,' I replied. And that how it all started. Rosie never got to finish her degree. Before university even commenced we were engaged and planning to marry in the August school holidays. ' The third important step was to fly to Canada where Ken's cousin had arranged a teaching position for him in a primary school in a logging town called Nakusp, in British Columbia. It was a time when numerous Australian teachers were going to Canada where they could, according to Ken, double their salaries and have much better teaching conditions. Ken taught in British Columbia and gained a British Columbia's Teachers Certificate. Ken and Rosie were happy in Canada but this changed when their first child, Elizabeth, was born. Rosie wanted to return to Australia so that her parents would have time with Elizabeth, while Ken wanted to stay in Canada. They compromised by spending time in Scotland where again taught and described it as 'one of the best years of his life'. For Rosie the position was not the same. Their initial accommodation was a caravan, ill-suited to the Scottish winter and bringing up a baby. When Rosie found she was again pregnant, she returned to Australia. When Ken returned to Australia in 1967 he first saw young David when he was 3 months old.
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Ken Walker as he was at Balmain Teachers College, 1956-57
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Ken took up a position as assistant master at the Edgecliff Campus of Sydney Grammar School where in the next 8 years he taught a variety of year levels.
In 1976 the family moved to Tudor House, Moss Vale, where Ken became first a teacher, then house master and in 1981 senior master. It was a very happy time for the whole family and where perhaps it would have been better had they stayed. Instead, in 1983, the family moved to Bellevue Hill where Ken took up the position of headmaster of the Scots College Preparatory School. In Ken's words 'it was not a good move'. He found he was in almost constant disagreement with the head of the college and decided to resign the position in 1985. In a letter to John Chappell, a good friend from Balmain Teachers College days, Ken explained what happened and why he was in constant disagreement: 'As you probably know I resigned from Scots at the end of Term 1. The Council were dissatisfied with my style of leadership [yet] I was of the opinion that all was going well. Anyway I couldn't see any future in staying and being at loggerheads with the Council and, to a lesser extent, with the Principal.' Some years later, the school administration made no mention of the conflict that led to Ken's resignation. It described Ken in such glowing terms that it is a wonder they could part with him: 'His deep understanding of the needs of young people was reflected in the good relationships he developed with the students, staff and the parent body. Mr Walker had formal training in drawing, painting and print-making and was actively involved with team sports particularly Cricket, Rugby and Soccer. He maintained a traditional approach to primary education, focusing on ethics and child development. He resigned in 1985 and is remembered for his trustworthiness, loyalty and for the implementation of well-structured teaching programs.' After Ken resigned from Scots College, he took a retraining course with the Department of Education's Professional Development Unit at Leichhardt, under Dr Alan Rice (also from Ken's time at Balmain TC). This qualified Ken to teach in government high schools. Because house prices in Sydney were high, Ken applied for a country school and was appointed to Finley High School, a little over 15 minutes by car from Tocumwal on the Murray River. Ken and Rosemary bought a house in Finley and quickly settled in; however, Ken's introduction to high schools after such a long time out of them, was somewhat of a surprise: 'Teaching in state secondary schools is hard yakka these days but I have been most impressed by the professionalism and dedication of the staff at Finley. I'm teaching English and History, subjects which I did in my B.A. course, and find the secondary work quite stimulating.' |
Ken Walker in the 1970s
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The following was contributed by his Ken's children, Elizabeth, David and William.
Over the years Dad gained a number of qualifications: NSW Teachers Certificate; Bachelor of Arts, Sydney University; British Columbia's Teachers Certificate; Master of Education; Graduate Diploma in Applied Science (Teacher Librarianship); and an Associate Diploma of Theology. Apart from two years National Service training in the Army, he spent all of his life teaching students of all levels and abilities. Dad was committed to ensuring that all his students achieved to their individual potential. Except from his time in boarding schools, which were communities in themselves, he was always actively involved in the community. This included clubs, Scouts, music and drama societies, and Scottish dancing – where he met Mum! Dad had a lifelong involvement in the Anglican Church, commencing with his baptism to his ordination as a Deacon. Dad was always engaged with some sort of active sport, participating and coaching; these included cycling, cricket, soccer, rugby, hockey and lawn bowls. He also had a talent for art and drama, and had drawn, painted, photographed and performed, on and off for most of his life. Dad loved a story and a beer. In his own words: All of my adult life I have enjoyed drinking good beer in good company. Since moving to Tocumwal, I have gone across the road to the Farmers Arms Hotel for a few beers. Next to Sunday Eucharist it is the highlight of my week. At Ken's funeral several people spoke of how Ken had saved them from suicide and set them on a path to recovery. |